Foods that Interfere with Sleep

 Foods that can interfere with Your Sleep

Not only caffeine present in tea, coffee or chocolate is found to interfere with sleep in various researches, there are various other foods that you eat or drink before bed, which can interfere with your sleep. Some of the common foods that if we eat before bed can disrupt our sleep are described below;

 

1.  Pizza

The overly processed junk food like pizza make people feel physically uncomfortable, this uneasiness won’t let you sleep properly. Also, such foods are high in saturated fat and sodium such as butter, ice cream, French fries, and more. This may cause you to wake during the night to drink something.

 

2. Smoothies

The high intake of sugar leads to serious health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and more. Besides this, it can also lead to sleepless nights or make sleep more difficult. So, foods like smoothies, candy, desserts, pies, should be avoided before bed. In some researches like one published in BMJ Open in March 2016, it has been found that packaged smoothie food items contain more sugar per serving; around 2.5 teaspoons, which is more than juice. So, if you feel hungry before going to bed, you can rely on carbohydrates or protein than sugar.

 

3. Tomatoes

Tomatoes if consumed too close to bedtime may interfere with your sleep. This is because acidic foods like tomatoes can disturb the stomach lining and increase the acidity in the body. Thus, it may cause heartburn, acid reflux or ingestion that may affect your sleep. So, if you are prone to indigestion or heartburn you should avoid tomatoes including tomato-based juices, soups, and sauces.

 

4. Hot Sauce

Hot sauces and other such spicy foods can cause acid reflux, which generally occurs during sleep when we are lying down. During sleep the mix of food and stomach acid can move back up through the food pipe (oesophagus). So, if you consume spicy food at dinner, you should wait for three hours before going to sleep to avoid acid reflux or acidity.

 

5. Alcohol

Alcohol is a depressant that may help you fall asleep faster, but it affects the natural sleep cycle and quality of sleep by reducing REM (rapid eye movement), as per the National Sleep Foundation. Also, excessive consumption of alcohol may cause sleep apnea and snoring. It also disrupts breathing during sleep as the throat muscles are relaxed after consuming alcohol. It also affects the brain’s ability to check a lack of oxygen in the body that can cause longer and frequent breathing pauses. Besides this, the esophageal sphincter, which is a muscle in the esophagus that prevent food to move back into the food pipe, is relaxed due to alcohol consumption. It can cause acid reflux or acidity due to the backward movement of undigested food.

 

6. Tyramine-Rich Foods

Tyramine is a type of amino acid, which causes our brain to release a natural stimulant, and thus it may not let you fall asleep easily. So, you should avoid Tyramine-rich foods before bed such as soy sauce, eggplant, red wine, aged cheese, tomatoes, and more.